Jerk Festival

Jerk  - a style of  cooking native to Jamaica in which meat is dry-rubbed or marinated with a hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice.

Negril Jerk Festival - an annual festival on the cliffs of Negril that offers jerk seafood, chicken, pork, veggies and very loud music. After reading about the festival online - cotton candy, bouncy castles, live music - I thought this would be a super fun way for Cale and I to spend our Sunday afternoon. When we arrived, however, the only thing that was set up for kids was this bamboo swing - no bouncy castle or popcorn machine in site. I was worried that Caleb might be upset, but in true Caleb fashion, he took it all in stride. "Oh well, mom." he said "that is not a big deal. We can still have fun." And we did. 

Bamboo swing at the Jerk Festival

I'm so excited to say that Alan arrives in 2 days!! Finally our little family will be complete again. Here are a few of the many changes that Alan will notice in his not-so-little-anymore boy:

 -  Potty-trained (!!!). This was a huge accomplishment for Caleb and I, but I'm really excited to have daddy here to share tips on how to pee standing up!

 -  No more naps which has lead to much earlier and easier bedtimes

 - He is very interested in letters and words and can spell his name, and two other essential words - mom and dad. He wants to know what is written on every sign we pass.
- He had grown! It is a tight squeeze to get him into his scuba suit now!
- He has added some hilarious words to his vocabulary - interesting, amazing, frustrated, holy moly, fantastic, wonderful, awesome (sounds a bit like his mother, I know). He also has started telling people on the beach that he is in Jamaica 'doing research'!

 - He has become a bit of a prophet uses his advanced reasoning skills on his mother. When he can see that I'm beginning to feel frustrated or tired, Cale will often tell me "Mom, remember what Bob Marley says? Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing is going to be alright". I can't stay mad after that.

Alan may not be quite as excited to realize that Caleb has been sleeping in my bed every night. We only have two bedrooms, and with the steady stream of visitors it was easiest to just let Caleb sleep with me for the past few months. I'll admit that I'm afraid of how we are going to break this habit. Another challenging sleep journey begins.

Three more days!